US trains AU troops for Somalia mission

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Kakola - American military advisers in Uganda are drawing on lessons learned from Iraq and Afghanistan to help train African Union soldiers to fight Somalia's most powerful insurgent group, al-Shabaab.

Earlier this year, a small contingent of US Marines joined American military contractors at a training base nestled in Uganda's rolling countryside, helping fill gaps where the al-Qaeda-linked fighters have found weaknesses.

The base, called Singo, was built by the US and is a key part of the Obama administration's strategy to bring stability to Somalia.

The US has sent in only small units of Special Forces to attack al-Qaeda members in Somalia or hostage-taking pirates since US troops withdrew from the nation in 1994, while other African countries have deployed thousands of troops to bring order to a country plagued by lawlessness, insurgents and hunger.

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